Indiana sweeps Kentucky All-Stars in opening games of classic series

Frederick Douglass standout Dashawn Jackson led all scorers in Friday night’s opening game of the Kentucky-Indiana All-Star Classic series at the Owensboro Sportscenter, but the hosts could not overcome their rivals to the north in a 90-73 loss.

The Kentucky team included Mr. Basketball Ben Johnson (Bellarmine) from Lexington Catholic, Sweet 16 MVP Sam Vinson (Northern Kentucky) from Highlands, St. Xavier’s Ayden Mudd (Bellarmine) and DeSales standout Sekou Kalle (Akron). Jackson (Eastern Kentucky) scored 20 points, Kalle had 12 and Mudd addeded 10 for Kentucky.

Indiana’s All-Stars placed five players in double figures, led by 18 from Luke Brown (Stetson). Shamar Avance scored 14, Blake Wesley (Notre Dame) 13, Caleb Furst (Purdue) 12, and Pierce Thomas (Butler) 11 .

Kentucky scored the game’s first two points but quickly fell behind 12-2 at the first media timeout. Indiana led 44-31 at halftime.

Friday’s game was part of a doubleheader with the girls’ All-Stars and were scheduled to be played again Saturday at Southport High School in Indianapolis. Indiana leads the all-time boys’ series 100-44.

Indiana girls top Kentucky

Indiana’s All-Stars broke a halftime tie with a decisive third-quarter run to defeat the Kentucky girls’ squad 69-58.

Led by Purdue commit Jayla Smith, Indiana outscored Kentucky 19-5 in the third quarter after stepping up its defense to force turnovers and missed Kentucky shots..

Kentucky’s All-Stars held the advantage early in the game as Indiana struggled from the field. Kentucky led 25-16 at the final media timeout of the first half. The teams were tied at 29 at half.

Butler’s Dynastee White (Georgetown College) led Kentucky’s team with 14 points, followed by Wayne County’s Macey Blevins (Western Kentucky) with 12. Bethlehem’s Ella Thompson (Tennessee Martin) and Amelia Hodges (Lindsay Wilson) scored eight and seven points, respectively.

Smith led four Indiana scorers in double figures for Indiana with 13. Ariana Wiggins (Michigan), Meg Newman (Arizona State) and Courtney Blakely (Middle Tennessee) each had 10.

Notably absent from the Kentucky squad were Miss Basketball winner Brooklynn Miles (Tennessee) from Franklin County, Boyd County’s Harley Paynter (Tennessee Tech) and Butler’s Tiarra East (Temple), who all have already joined their college teams and begun summer classes.

Indiana leads the girls’ series 51-38.